SB: Subject: Re: SB: Re:Expensive Straw

["Keith Rowe" <keithrowe@ezpost.com>]

Unless I'm missing the thread of conversation here, it seems we're debating,
in no small way, the environmental and financial 'costs' of building with
'expensive' bales and/or or having them trucked large distances, verses
building with more readily available, cheaper materials.

I think we have to think long term when we approach this question. I built
with bales because thirty years from now I will have a wonderful, warm home,
that will still function well, and over that time I will have saved huge
amounts of fuel and emissions, of whatever kind, in the process.  If I had
to have my bales trucked from afar and therefore caused more diesel to be
spewed, I'd feel little guilt because ultimately I've made a decision which
will, over time, negate that sin a hundred times over.

As far as expensive bales go. If we look at the big picture, we find that
over the whole cost of a project the bales still only make up a small
portion of the total outlay of cash, and it's not likely to make or break
us. As an example I got lucky and got bales delivered for 2 bucks a bale,
but if I do a quick calculation and say I instead had to pay $10 a bale, my
total cost for my house would have gone up by about 4%. A bummer to be sure,
but not a point that would make or break my project. I'd have lived with it
and move on.

A the risk of really sticking my neck out, I maintain that there is no
building material for walls, at any price, that completely answers as many
building 'questions' as straw bale. 

Those are my thoughts, not yours.
Keith

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